The debate was raised in Parliament on Tuesday evening (September 13) by Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter after a tower block fire in Shepherd's Bush, London.

The incident required 120 firefighters to put out the flames.

The chairman of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee, MP Iain Wright, has written to Whirlpool to express concerns over its plans to repair faulty appliances, while consumer watchdogs Which? has also condemned the manufacturers.

Whirpool issued a safety warning in November last year over Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and October 2015 saying the machines could pose a fire risk.

The charred remains of the Indesit tumble-dryer (Image: Chelsea Garnham)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Margot James, has backed the advice given by Whirpool.

She said in Parliament: “I am not yet persuaded that the product is necessarily unsafe, because the very few fires overall in terms of the five million machines that have been sold have mostly been contained within the machine.

"On being present, bearing in mind what trading standards believes to be a very low risk, I think that the advice is reasonable given that a total product recall is unlikely to get back more than one in four machines.”

Firefighters fought the blaze at the house in Clover Road,Guildford (Image: Natasha Garnham)

This photo shows the utter devastation caused by the fire at the house in Clover Road, Guildford (Image: Chelsea Garnham)

Now, the BIS Select Committee has written to Whirlpool to raise concern at the length of time it is taking to carry out the repairs.

The letter, from Mr Wright, says: “More importantly, the risk posed by faulty dryers is also clearly apparent, as demonstrated by a potentially fatal tower block blaze in London in August 2016, which London Fire Brigade attributed to a faulty lndesit tumble dryer.

“In light of this, I would like to understand whether you intend to change your customer advice, given London Fire Brigade has urged that customers should not use their appliance until it has been checked and repaired.

"If not, please explain why not?”

Alex Neill, director of policy and campaigns at Which? added: “It is shocking that almost a year since this problem was identified and​ there are still millions of people who​ have tumble dryers in their homes that could catch fire.

“The committee is right to highlight the failings with the product safety system and the government must now review the Whirlpool case and set out how it is going to improve safety for consumers.”